Vulpine
The Vulpine were a species of sapient furred mammals found on the planet (later, following colonization by humanity, the colony) of New Blenheim. The Vulpine were naturally sharp witted, quick to learn, and very adept and innovative working with machinery and technology. Thanks to prolonged coexistence with members of humanity on New Blenheim, the Vulpine were on very good terms with the United Earth Government, and eventually became a UEG protectorate in 2601. Characteristics The size of Vulpine varied greatly due environmental factors – such as (but not limited to) diet and exercise. The mass of the average adult male lay roughly between 55 to 68 kilograms, while the average female was 50 to 60 kilograms; sexual dimorphism was somewhat apparent. The average lifespan of the average male Vulpine was roughly 43.8 years; the female, meanwhile, enjoyed a slightly longer average lifespan of 44.3 years. However, medical and technological advances in the 24th century led to significantly increased lifespans, with Vulpine of both seces frequently living into the mid-60s through early 70s. The Vulpine were digitigrade bipedal humanoids, roughly 149 to 164 centimetres (4.9 to 5.4 feet) in height; and capable of walking on their four-toed padded feet, hence leaving their arms free to manipulate tools with four fingered padded hands, with an opposable thumb.Meanez, Y. and Philips, J. (2583). The Anatomy of the Vulpine. University of New Blenheim. Pg. 112. “''The obvious pads on both the hands and feet of Vulpine is likely reminiscent of evolving from a species of Vulpes-like quadrupedal; ironically, no fossils of such species has yet been uncovered from the soil of New Blenheim.”. All Vulpine process a thick pelt of fur across their bodies; the colour of the fur is dependent on the genes of the parents. However, the most common fur colours are either an almost ruddy red/brown or grey. Given New Blenheim’s bitterly cold winters, Vulpine generationally evolved to grow thicker winter coats to allow them to survive in such climates. They shed these thicker coats mid-way through the spring; roughly half a year after they grew them. Meanez, Y. and Philips, J. (2583). ''The Anatomy of the Vulpine. University of New Blenheim. Pg. 174. '' While this winter growth of fur was certainly essential to the early survival of the species due to the frigid winter climate; with the entire species adequately clothed in the winter months by the 800s BCE, it is an interesting question why this growth of fur still occurs to the extent it does. How drastically this pelt has receded in the last 3500 years is currently a subject of several studies.” Another trademark of the Vulpine was their “fox-like” faces, consisting of a long and obvious muzzle, a black furless nose, and two large pointed ears on the top of the head. They also processed bushy tails; usually spanning roughly two-fifths of their height, and almost always complete with a white tip. Meanez, Y. and Philips, J. (2583). ''The Anatomy of the Vulpine. University of New Blenheim. Pg. 174. “''The Vulpine tail is quite intriguing: at some point (and even today), its primary purpose was a balancing aid when moving; allowing for seemingly physics-defying manoeuvres. It is also useful as a pillow when curled up.” History Early History Little is known about the Vulpine in their early history, as much of the little that is actually known was passed down by word of mouth through countless generations; before eventually being transcribed upon the early varients of written language. Hence, these tales lack much in the way of measurable accuracy and credibility, although certainly not in the way of creativity.Griffith, H. and Dreinx, R. (2589). ''Long Nights: The Ancestral Stories of the Vulpine. Potsdam Publishers, Inc. Pg. iii. “''While these tales are most certainly interesting and creative, it is unlikely that much of these tales are completely accurate. But much like rumours, there is likely some truth to them; buried deep within.” However, archaeology shows that early Human and Vulpine development to be similar: both seemed to evolve from more primitive quadruped species to a more advanced tool-using biped. In addition to this, early histories seem to be remarkably similar. Early Vulpine formed small and transient hunting communities that moved north in summer and south in winter in pursuit of prey. These ‘tribes’ (in lieu of a better term) were led by a single leading figure who ruled over the entire group. There was generally a close friend or a mate effectively being the second in command; under whom were the ‘lieutenants’ of sorts, who were entrusted to lead sections of the tribe to hunt and gather provisions.Rainez, Palve. (2591). ''Vulpine: A History. Theims Printing Co.” The basic tribal structure was remarkably similar to that of a military unit – roles were developed as so there was always a structure for instruction and direction to be provided to achieve maximum control and efficiency. ''” The hunting tribes seemed to have followed the same routes north and south on their travels year in and year out – possibly due to prey following the same route tracks or because of the drawing of crude maps. Civilization Around 200 BCERainez, Palve. (2591). ''Vulpine: A History. Theims Printing Co. Pg. 478. “''Pre-civilization Vulpine measured a day from sunrise to sunrise, based on tracking the positioning for the sun and the visibility/orbits of the moons. Much like prehistoric human civilization, the Vulpine subdivided the day into dawn, twilight, sunrise, daybreak, morning, noon, evening, sunset, twilight, dusk and night. The measurement of time was not fully established by the time of human intervention, still relying on the traditional model of rising at dawn, and rest at sundown. Measurement conducted by the Cornwallis showed that there were 27 Earth hours, 12 Earth minutes, 10 Earth seconds per full planetary rotation of New Blenhiem: a ratio of 1.139 Earth day per New Blenhiem day, with a full planet rotation around the sun being achieved in 475 days. Clearly, the problem became timekeeping: how was this difference reconciled in respect to Earth Standard Time (Universal Coordinated Time, or better known as 'Zulu')? The answer ended up being that there were two dates adopted for use simultaneously: New Blenhiem Standard Time (BST) and Universal Coordinated Time. Over the course of about five years from arrival, development and introduction of a formal New Blenhiem calander occurred, with a total of 18 months (one for each of the 17 great Vulpine nation and one for the Cornwallis itself.) Each month had 26 days, with each second month having an extra day." , the first permanent settlements seem to have been founded in areas that were naturally easily defensible. Many of the previously mentioned transient tribes relocated to these larger settlements for numerous reasons: the most prominent seemed to be the division of labour (allowing for the workload to be distributed more evenly) and better shelter (most shelter was of wood and stone construction). Furthermore, the largest advantages of living in a permanent settlement were increased safety and increased access to food stuffs year round. Slowly, most nomadic groups ended up living in these settlements; correspondingly, the population of Vulpine grew exponentially thanks to the longer lifespans of Vulpine. These settlements were initially led by an absolute monarchy – with an appointed family member of the founding leader being chosen to take over in the event of the monarch’s death. However, as time progressed towards the early CE years, the monarchy slowly evolved into a form of an oligarchy due to the difficulties of overseeing a large state. As each city-state’s population grew, the need for agricultural land increased in order to keep the population fed. As a direct result, the first large-scale Vulpine-on-Vulpine fighting began to occur over land in between city states. Wars between these states were brutal and often neither side gave quarter to the end short of unconditional surrender – though the victors usually allowed the losing side’s civilian population to be integrated into their state. Slowly, technological advances were made due to armed conflict; essentially a well-advanced entry into a ‘Bronze age’ of sorts. By 1600 CE, several Vulpine civilizations emerged: along with common written language, currency, but different and distinct cultures. Each nation spanned a considerable portion of the planet’s surface and contained millions of citizens. These three civilizations were perpetually at war with each other; up until the political unrest at home resulted mass civil disobedience and the rejection of the monarchies/oligarchies as leaders of the nation in 1621. This occurred in all three nations almost simultaneously – resulting in anarchy and pandemonium. Several prominent Vulpine philosophers, being Yend’a Kensa, Resnd Hanez, and Ewala Jaksa, rose to power within months; each making peace and implementing a form of direct democracy in each of the three nations, with a method of democratically electing a government of the people for the people.Rainez, Palve. (2591). ''Vulpine: A History. Theims Printing Co. Pg. 478. “''One controversy that has arisen relatively recently is the uncanny way the uprisings of 1621 occurred and the method the implantation of direct democracy by Yend’a Kensa, Resnd Hanez, and Ewala Jaksa was conducted. Recent writings on the subject help give weight to the theory that the three “great philosophers” of the time were actually the perpetrators of the uprisings – each acting to spur rebellion in their nations. The secret cabal that seems to have been Kensa, Hanez, and Jaksa not only reshaped the face of Vulpine society, but helped bring about a permanent lasting peace. However, this has been blamed for the resulting near “domestication” of the Velpine species; a fine example of this is demonstrated upon Humanity's arrival on New Blenheim, they chose to peacefully coexist instead of immediately resisting and attempting to repel the alien invader that had the capability to so corrupt Vulpine culture.” Through the newly implemented direct democratic system, the three major factions were split into 17 independent nations; each (largely) peacefully coexisting with each other and developing minor cultural differences, all the while slowly advancing technologically. By 2371 CE, the Vulpine had no contact with other sapient species, and was loitering roughly midway through the human equivalency of the Iron Age. Likely, Vulpine civilization would have eventually evolved to appear much like that of medieval Europe had Humanity’s explosive arrival on their planet of New Blenheim not occurred. First contact with humanity and establishment of relations On the 13th of March 2371, the Colonial Military Administration colony vessel ''Cornwallis preformed an emergency exit out of ‘Slipspace’, hundreds of light-years off target - but a mere 1.7 billion kilometres off of a habitable body, which in turn was given the name of New Blenheim. With the realization that the Shaw-Fujikawa translight engine aboard the Cornwallis was irrepairably faulty due to defective manufacturing and their calls for help futile (due to the distance from any human colony), the colonists looked at New Blenheim for potential colonization. CMA AI “Marin” (MIL AI 0062-1). CMA ''Cornwallis Ship’s Log''. Unpublished. Entry 249. “''13 March, 2371: The CMA Cornwallis has made an emergency drop out of Slipstream space due to a fatal defect within the Shaw-Fujikawa translight engine. Engineering staff have assessed it to beyond repair, and have disconnected it from power supply. Lieutenant Joesph Walker, the head of the translight engineering division explained that there is next to no chance of repair given the lack of replacement core components and a crew not trained for such an extensive overhaul, though he and his staff are willing to try. Triangulation using major stars shows that the Cornwallis is 149.2 by 97.7 by 52.7 lightyears off target – so far off course we will be presumed lost in the eddies of Slipstream space. Given the nature of our long distance jump, it is highly unlikely of any CMA rescue or discovery for decades - or even centuries. However, by a statistically improbable fluke, we seem to have emerged in real space a mere hundred million kilometres off what seems to be a medium-sized habitable planetary body. Given the situation, colonization of this planetary body seems to be the best option for the continued survival of the 1,763 bodies aboard.” The ''Cornwallis placed herself in orbit about the planetary body by 19 March, conducting orbital analysis whilst her scientific teams made for the surface of New Blenheim. A major coup for the colonists was that it was found that it had an atmosphere naturally suitable for sustaining human life; possessing a cold but bearable climate, and much in the way of unique and native wildlife. The scientific team also encountered a small patrol of Vulpine soldiers from the state of Jedufi, armed with swords and spears, and clad in iron armour. This was much to the surprise of the Cornwallis expedition, who hadn’t expected to encounter sapient life here, of all places.Mayers, Theodore. (2371) Personal Journal of a stranded Xenobiologist. Unpublished. Pg. 151. “''It was quite remarkable! Furred sentient fox-like bipedals in iron armour…they must have reached this technological stage much like humanity did – over time and though innovation! If only there was a way to transmit news of this find back to Earth… This is long-awaited proof that Humanity is not alone in the Galaxy… I do hope that the CMA folks plan to coexist with the aboriginal species – and not steamroll them in the fashion of colonial Europeans; because this is a wonderful opportunity to aid a fledgling species reach the level of technological mastery humanity is at. In my opinion, this is essential for the continued survival of the stranded humans aboard the'' Cornwallis.” The encounter was peaceful, although both parties regarded each other as utterly alien and correspondingly acted coolly to in regards each other. There were, however, attempts at communication; however, these efforts on both sides proved futile as both found each others languages to be incomprehensible. The Vulpine soldiers eventually left the scientific team in wonder, leaving the humans free to return to the vessel with their findings. The commanding officer of the CMA ''Cornwallis, Captain Catherine Woods, United Nations Space Command Naval Reserve, held a confidential meeting with her 73 officers and the 84 academics aboard to discuss what the options were regarding these “sentient foxes”. Despite some xenophobia on the part of some of the present personnel, it was decided that the only real option the colonists had was to peacefully coexist the sapient “aboriginal” species.Woods, Catherine; Captain (Paygrade O-6), United Nations Space Command Naval Reserve (UNSC Service Number: 00432-19274-CW). CMA ''Cornwallis’ Captain’s Log''. Entry 397. “''20 March, 2371: Apparently there is sapient life down on this new habitable planet – and something just short of a panic is starting to surface among the crew and intellectuals who know of the existence of the fox-like sentients (as the colonists themselves have not been revived from cryogenic suspension as of yet; hence are unable to worry). As a result, I sat down with my officers and the intellectual colonists to discuss what we should do in regards to them. There were obvious xenophobic elements that simply called for annihilation of the natives with our superior armaments and the use of the Cornwallis as an instrument of death (over my dead body, might I add: my name will not be synonymous with Columbus’). This small minority was silenced by an xenobiologist, a Mr. Mayers, who made the excellent point that “…we can’t justify treating them like the Colonial Europeans did the natives in the lands they colonized – making them second rate citizens and killing them off in droves; after all, look how that turned out.” This was met largely with approval by the more rational factions present; urging that we get to know the natives and coexist peacefully alongside them. The ship’s AI, Marin, interjected with her opinion that peaceful coexistence would be the ideal goal for the colonists. The discussion then moved to how we’d set up our first settlement; to which Marin provided several ideal locations.” This done, the decision to set up the first settlement on the surface was reached; and within days, the ''Cornwallis began shuttling colonists and prefabricated housing components from orbit to the surface. The various factions of vulpine became aware of the encounter with Humanity from the warrior party, and then through roving traders. It the human colonization attempts were noticed within days of starting, with political leaders on the vulpine side astutely foreseeing that these strangers were their new neighbours and doubtless here to stay. It was also noted that the new faction, with the possession of flying devices dropping a growing number of large prefabricated steel structures daily, were not going to be able to be forced off fromthe ground they now built on. The affected state, in this case, was Jedufi, which held control of large swath of plains and forests. Taking a bold first step towards diplomatic relations, the elected head of the Jedufi state, Dehn Fenez, met the new colonists in front of their new settlement – with a hundred of her soldiers.Fenez, Dehn. (2398) ”The Dawn of A New Era.” New Blenheim Printers, Ltd. Pg. 76. “''Fearing invasion by these technologically superior aliens, I felt I had no choice but to confront them. It was not one of my more clever moves. ” This second meeting resulted in pandemonium on the part of the human colonists in the process of constructing the first settlement named “New Wolverhampton” (named after a city within the now-disbanded United Kingdom).CMA AI “Marin” (MIL AI 0062-1). ''CMA ''Cornwallis Ship’s Log''. Unpublished. Entry 254. “''25 March, 2371: Consensus has (finally) been reached among the colonists – as per colonial tradition, the first colonial settlement on New Blenheim will be named after a settlement on Earth. The chosen name was “New Wolverhampton”. Somewhat of a mouthful, in my opinion; but it’s not my place to comment. ” A platoon of CMA security forces, comprised of former UNSC Marines, had also been deployed in the event of hostilities against the settlers on the part of the aboriginal species – sapient or not, it was reasoned that they still might make the folly of attempting to drive off the humans. The meeting between the armed Colonial Security forces and the hundred Jedufi soldiers was anti-climactic as it turned out; the Marines held their fire (demonstrating remarkable self-control given the intimidation caused by the approach of a hundred Vulpine well armed soldiers), while the Vulpine backed down; allowing for a proper first encounter between the platoon commander and the leader of the Jedufi state. Through slow and obvious gestures, the platoon commander managed to convey the idea of not wanting to fight by placing his weapon on the ground – to which Fenez followed suit. The two leaders attempted to communicate, while a pair of linguistics specialists among the colonists were bought forward to learn how to communicate with the new species. There was little initial success, as both species were still unable to effectively convey ideas through language; but thanks to ingenious usage of pictograms to relate and share basic concepts, the linguists began to learn the vocabulary of the Vulpine language. Advances were made, and within months human translators began to mingle with the Vulpine population to win hearts and minds whilst mastering the language. Fenez formally granted permission for the Human colonists to construct a population center within the Jedufi state. Trading began, formal relations between with discussions and theory regarding the ''Cornwallis' contingent being able to use equivalent currencies for goods and services taking several weeks to catch on, being solidified thanks to excellent relations between Dehn Fenez and Captain Catherine Woods, the commander of the Cornwallis and de facto Governor of New Blenheim. News of Humanity's arrival on the planet spread rapidly, and given the largely benevolent message conveyed in the story, the Vulpine public was largely curious, but not untrusting of the foreign species. Small elements within Vulpine culture took a very alarmist stance to Humans in general, and their reactions ranged from desires to send the colonists 'back to the stars' to killing every living human on the planet.Rainez, Palve. (2591). Vulpine: A History. Theims Printing Co. Pg. 611. "Adverse xenophobic reactions among Vulpine occurred in roughly three percent of the population, with societal pressure regarding Humans largely forcing any other potential dissidents to simply squelch their perceived issues with the 'tall hairless bipeds.' This suppression would rear its head in only a generation with tragic results." Vulpine society did a remarkable job in self-censoring itself from self-perceived insensitive remarks against a species that they quickly discovered was technologically superior to them; however, this allowed a clandestine militant counter-culture to begin to fester within Vulpine society - one that would later eventually rear its head and bite hard at the two cooperating species. At this stage, formal relations between Humanity and the Vulpine were finally officially ratified on the 24th of May, 2371, by Captain Catherine Woods, her 13-person cabinet, Dehn Fenez, and sixteen other city states, and referred to as the Treaty of New Wolverhampton. Terms regarding passage between states, non-aggression pacts and assistance in technological advancement were discussed and agreed upon within the agreement.Rainez, Palve. (2591). Vulpine: A History. Theims Printing Co. Pg. 673. "Dehn Fenez and Captain Catherine Woods developed a phenomenal friendship, in a ridiculously short period of time. While there are many theories regarding why this came to be (some quite vulgar and unlikely), the common accepted reason for this is Woods' acute interest in the Vulpine, their long term well being and desire to see 'her people' and the Vulpine coexist; as well as Fenez's desire to learn more about human concepts - most namely, technology. This was a strong common ground between the two, and spent many hours discussing the function of basic, everyday human devices. This lead to Woods making the offer of training Vulpine to understand and be able to produce such devices - and slowly 'modernize' the Vulpine; a proposition eagerly accepted by Fenez (and less readily accepted by her appointed cabinet). This fascination with technology is cited as the primary cause for the Vulpine such ease of integration with humanity.'" Modernization In October 2371, the essential infrastructure of New Wolverhampton had been laid down, with the necessary housing for humanities contingent, and warehouses for all of the items able to be stripped from the CMA Cornwallis. Thousands of Vulpine workers had been employed from surrounding regions to assist in the construction of New Wolverhampton (and had received training and education in exchange for relocating their immediate family to dwellings within the settlement), and easily thousands more had been contracted from surrounding regions to provide raw materials for construction.Rainez, Palve. (2591). Vulpine: A History. Theims Printing Co. Pg. 690. "Much of early contracting work arranged by Humanity was to foster relations between the species, with Fenez not-so-gently pushing Vulpine industry in her state into accepting deals with little on the table but vague 'I Owe You's - and supplying of armaments to nation-states and wealthy Vulpine. Indeed, if Humanity had failed to reconcile their current liabilities, Fenez would have been in a very tough spot and forced to subsidize expenses of the business' affected out of her own pocket. However, the currency deals that were accepted in early May 2371 aided in preventing this, as was the exchange of human goods for labour - which presumably would have been the alternate means to satisfy outstanding liabilities.'" This was an unprecedentedly large endeavour that local industry worked hard to meet. The skilled human laborers who came aboard the Cornwallis for colony establishment purposes quickly trained up their Vulpine workers in the more methodical and mathematically-precise Human means of construction; a foreign concept, as Vulpine construction was more of an artisan task with each building being an unique work of art, rather than build to a specific blueprint. Regardless of this, they demonstrated an aptitude and willingness to learning that quickly grew to define the species to humanity. The CMA Cornwallis was then carefully re-entered into the atmosphere as it was designed to do, and made the single powered landing it was capable of, utilizing chemical rockets, gently landed in a prepared clearing. The vessel was then deconstructed over the next six months, with the ship's hull and internal components melted down and re purposed for construction, and the reactor set down in the centre of the clearing, connected to New Wolverhampton. Upon conclusion of the deconstruction efforts, given the amount of infrastructure in place at the staging base to send components back to New Wolverhampton, the hundred-twenty CMA military personnel petitioned the interim government to establish the area and reactor as a military installation; becoming Camp Henley, and housing the bulk of the arms and military technology and guarding the primary reactor for New Blenhiem.Rainez, Palve. (2591). Vulpine: A History. Theims Printing Co. Pg. 732. "Coincidentally, the ships AI, Marin, was moved to Camp Henley to reside, where she operated valiantly with the University of New Wolverhampton until her inevitable and necessary shutdown in 2423." The first tertiary educational faculty on New Blenheim was established in late 2371, with the University of New Wolverhampton beginning lectures from February 2372, and running a 9 month academic school year. Given a large portion of academics who were aboard the Cornwallis were involved in business ventures, the Cornwallis' ship Artificial Intelligence, Marin, volunteered to lead University education. She educated for roughly 15 years, before being fully replaced with competent educators (that she had taught) were able to teach all courses on offer. The Vulpine were historically conservative in their lifestyles, but exposure to human mass-produced goods lead to the adoption of a far more liberal, consumerist society. New Wolverhampton quickly established substantial industrial capabilities within the final months of 2371, exporting manufactured to surrounding nation-states, and employing several thousand Vulpine. Surrounding regions had developed a keen interest in gaining flowing water, electricity and the futuristic devices humanity had, resulting in the commissioning of construction for powerlines. This also resulted in the establishment of paved roads for the hydrogen-fuelled vehicles humanity had begun to produce and sell to the Vulpine. This marked the beginning of a three decade period of intensive construction of infrastructure throughout New Blenheim; with skilled labour from the construction of New Wolverhampton returning to their home city to train up additional workers. This lead to a rapidly expanding workforce that connected a neat 92.1% of Vulpine habituated areas to electricity, running water, sewage, rubbish-disposal facilities, roads, education, medical facilities and public transportation. Such a feat took most the lifetime of normal Vulpine - however, human medical technology and innovative inoculations of the Vulpine were raising the average duration of life by at least a decade by 2400. Vast changes were occurring to the political landscape of New Blenheim. The multiple nation-state system was retained - with the entirety of the planet being divided into the seventeen regions. Each territory operated independently to manage itself with a small House of Representatives, who were elected every two years. These regions were, however, under the governance of the New Blenheim Colonial Government. The policies of the Colonial Government set general parameters for the regions to operate within, which were decided by a 200-seat Senate who was elected every three years. The Senate leader was historically a member of the Vulpine race. A public healthcare scheme was made possible, compartamentalized by region, pulling records from interconnected mainframes. Historically, the moderate-left Labour Party was a popular favourite choice in elections, winning six elections and eighteen of thirty years of what was later called the "roaring thirty years". Inner Turmoil However, the booming economic conditions lead to easy access to funds to any Belmite who worked, and the historical human institution of the Military-Industrial Complex. The build up of military assets in the 2380s was a successful effort to fund heavy industry to expand (with the secondary, but still central, motivation to build up a military in the event it was needed). Vulpine society at the time still found the concept of personal possession of arms to be acceptable, and armaments manufacturers sold what would be normally considered to be military weaponry to the general public. Signs of interal issues began to when minority groups of anti-human/anti-progress who came to adopt the name of the Vulpine Liberation Front began to purchase weapons and stage minor attacks on military outposts and police stations in closing years of the 2390s. Initial countermeasures of deploying increased numbers of highly-trained police and better armaments initially dealt with the problem. However, advent of organized and highly effective attacks against police and militias using high explosives resulted in the beginnings of a counter-terrorism effort by the New Blenheim Defense Force. Escalation ensured after a number of high-profile terrorist attacks on political leaders, leading to firm stances being made to resist said efforts. Moderate supporters of the VLF were quickly discouraged from openly supporting the rebels, as the quickly-attained toxic association was death to small businesses owned by outspoken advocates of the VLF. Naturally, the more radicalized Vulpine were demonized and driven to join the VLF, due to the initiation of a so-called 'foxhunt' of VLF members by the NBDF Intelligence Forces. Composite Human-Vulpine Special Operations teams raided suspected hideouts in the dead of night from VTOL transports, kicking down doors and hauling off suspects in flexicuffs and gags. Despite the effectiveness of Special Operations troops, the VLF continued to gain ideologically sympathetic individuals to their cause, and terror attacks continued on civilian and governmental populations alike for years: casualties were in the thousands. Attacks targeted humans primarily, with the political fallout for the failure of the military to protect the human civilian population being immense: after a particularly severe attack on a hospital in 2412 (which left 4,523 dead), the left-leaning Darrel Johnston-led Administration was forced to resign, having issued a statement that "the worst of the conflict is behind us" in an attempt to sweep the conflict under the rug. This lead to the far right-leaning Conservative political party coming to fill the void, finally bringing the issue to the political forefront, issuing the vow to end the internal conflict through military force and winning hearts and minds. War on Terror The Conservative Party immediately began measures to combat factions of vulpine terrorists through boosting the fiscal allotment to the military and the intelligence services; as well as unleashing the military with clandestine operation orders that effectively gave them carte blanche to make the problem of terrorism disappear. The result was the beginning of a declared war, called the New Blenhiem War on Terror (not to be confused with the early 21st century Earth Global War on Terror). Marines began being deployed en mass to troubled regions both to reassure the public, as well as hamper bombing efforts. Marines would be air lifted to remote and often heavily forested VLF-controlled areas to "take long walks" in order to force armed confrontations; an effective tactic that cost the life of many New Blenhiem Marines. Members of the 1st Marine Force Reconnaissance Brigade began masquerading as ideologically-motivated volunteers to the Vulpine Liberation Front, and began a decade long effort to trace and neutralize prominent terror networks. Efforts were not purely military in nature: a large scale effort began to win the hearts of minds of Vulpine in the regions where the Vulpine Liberation Front held power with moderate effectiveness. Efforts to increase literacy and adopt pro-human ideals also helped decrease public support and sources of recruitment. With an increasingly connected and technologically-literate society, Peace Human-Covenant War New Blenhiem had no exposure to the Human Covenant war, due to its isolated locale in comparison to UNSC space. Re-establishing contact with humanity Culture The Vulpine once had much in the way of unique traditions and customs within their culture. However, the vast majority were forgotten and forever lost within 250 years of humanities’ arrival on New Blenheim; due to a mass (and willing) loss of cultural identity on the part of the Vulpine to adopt human technological and cultural wisdom en mass. Military The Vulpine viewed war as a means to settle disputes over sovereignty, territory, resources or other issues when diplomacy failed. Due to Humanity’s intervention, the Vulpine only developed knowledge of warfare roughly equivalent to 14th century Europe. Without firearms, conflict was very close and personal with sharp bladed weapons and iron shields. Conflict was costly, and the injured often succumbed to wounds. Contact with Humanity and the exposure to the efficiency of the Human military weapon systems and organization resulted in adoption by the Vulpine military – which, by 2395, was absorbed into the UNSC military by politicians attempting (successfully, as it turned out) to dramatically improve species relations. Most members of the military were Vulpine; with the Navy and Marine Corps being the only real combat capable branches. The Air Force and Army were completely neglected by the New Blenheim branch of the UNSC – thanks to an utter lack of Army and Air Force personnel present aboard the Cornwallis to represent and advocate their branch. It was reasoned by the CMA leadership that the implementation of a four-branch military was unnecessary and largely redundant, as the Navy had complete control of the sea and the Marine Corps the ground; and the two branches shared the duty of controlling the air. This lead to increased efficiency in regards to delegation of funds and logistics trains. The necessity of establishing a military on New Blenheim was largely political and economic at first; production of military hardware was intended to spur substantial growth among the fledgling Vulpine industrial and engineering sectors. However, as vehemently anti-Human Vulpine Nationalist terror cells emerged in the 2390s, the military began widespread counter-terrorism operations (largely utilizing special operation forces), and quickly acquired a need for high-end technology and air power. As a result of actively suppressing these minority elements, when the UEG rediscovered the colony of New Blenheim in 2600, the military was sizable enough to field orbital interceptors of the 247th Naval Air Squadron to fend off the UEG survey vessel, which resulted in the ship retreating. This spurred the UEG to deploy a battlegroup as first encounter diplomacy was exercised. Due to the fact that the colony was colonized by humans but were outnumbered by the Vulpine population, New Blenheim’s military was absorbed into the UNSC, and New Blenheim became an official protectorate of the UEG. Navy The joint Human-Vulpine Navy was initially intended to be segregated into two branches following its formation in 2382: Human controlled and Vulpine controlled. However, political efforts resulted in the two being merged in 2385: much to the dissatisfaction of elements of the CMA legislative body. The Vulpine that were inducted into the UNSC military were found to have substantially faster reaction times than that of humans; ideal for special forces operators and piloting aircraft. While political dissident and anarchist elements were causing enough trouble to warrant the deployment of special operations units by 2398; only a few military airframes were available to allow budding Vulpine pilots to fly. However, by 2401, the Vulpine military aviation industry was producing the first generation of military aircraft in numbers – largely based off of supplied-human design and fixed wing airframes were largely reminiscent of Cold War-era delta-winged fighter interceptors. Kenneth McElroy; CMDR, UNSCN. Capabilities of (relatively) primitive Vulpine airpower. (2442) Published within CMA High Command, New Blenheim. “''The Navy has given the Vulpine blueprints to build dual turbojet fighter interdictors that are currently in service with the UNSC Navy that can just about reach low orbit, and given more powerful chemical engines, could actually achieve orbital flight. Given the fact that the Vulpine managed to modify a Cold War-era delta-design to the point of nearly having the capabilities of 2100-era airframes, this should be concerning for the High Command. If this species can improve an antique model to the point of being barely obsolete in comparison to UNSC F/B-228 Pike interceptors, then what is to say they can’t make current models much more effective? We will have made our allies technologically and militarily superior to us. The question is: what if the Vulpine decide in the near future that they don’t want Humanity here anymore?” While these were aircraft provided to the Navy and Marine Corps, and were the best models available; they were centuries behind what the “real” UNSC Navy was concurrently operating throughout Human-occupied space. In its history, the most prominent naval fighter squadron was the Fighter Attack Squadron 247 (VFA-247) – referred to as the “Flying Foxes”. This was the Navy’s proverbial “tip of the spear”: a collection of the best Naval and Marine pilots in service, piloting sleek and barely suborbital hypersonic interdiction aircraft, with the capability to provide deliver medium explosive payloads to the other side of the planet in as little as two hours. It was also notable for being one of the first integrated fighter squadrons, containing both Human and Vulpine pilots and groundcrew. However, the naval air force progressively expanded, as strategic military bases and warships to base them on were established. The Navy was soon operating several dozen surface warships on the oceans of New Blenheim; each operating a contingent of aircraft. The “wet” Navy itself remained small throughout the “bushfire” Vulpine Civil War with anti-human insurgents and ultimately only patrolled the oceans to interdict suspicious shipping, in which there were very few casualties seizing illegally-acquired armaments – up until the UNSC ''Newark (FF-019) was boarded and hijacked on the 23rd of November, 2423, while searching the container ship Darter. The twenty-one naval personnel searching the Darter were engaged by insurgents. The surviving crew called out for help, before being systematically hunted down and executed. Meanwhile, the Newark moved in alongside the container ship to bear its large-caliber naval artillery on the merchant vessel. However, additional insurgents in rigid boats managed to board the Newark. Despite close-quarters combat and fierce defense by the naval and marine personnel aboard the warship, the few handguns carried by the masters-at-arms and, later, issued armaments from the ship’s armory proved to be useless against a guerrilla raid with the element of surprise. The ship was taken with 63 naval personnel killed, with another 42 incapacitated and/or captured. The 11 remaining human captives were summarily executed, and demanded the return of captured guerrillas for the safe return of the remaining Vulpine crew. The military, rattled by such an audacious and effective move, simply decided not to negotiate with terrorists, and deployed a Marine Special Operations unit to repel from tiltrotor aircraft onto the vessel to take it back by force. The Insurgents became aware of the attempt to retake the ship once the special operations team engaged the insurgents, and correspondingly detonated the ships magazine using plastic explosive; killing the rescue team, hostages and insurgents alike. The monstrous blast also took out an aircraft, bringing the death toll of the failed rescue mission to roughly 89 fatalities . Garrett McAffery; Admiral, UNSC Navy (Retired). Running the Gambit: An Admiral’s Account of the Vulpine Civil War ''. (2505) McCaughey Books, Inc. “''Despite losing 68 military personnel in what became known as the “''Newark Fiasco”, it never was confirmed how many terrorists were aboard the vessel. Estimates from several sources show about 32 were aboard, although gun camera footage streamed from the deployed Marines shows approximately 21 targets were incapacitated before the ship was destroyed. This left ten enemy personnel about – only one of which was needed to blow the magazine and cause the fiasco. The only upside of this military tragedy was that the strategic missiles aboard were stowed away and locked down far too well to be accessed by untrained, non-military personnel.” As a result of the “''Newark Fiasco”, new procedures were implemented – leading to the sinking of seventeen cargo vessels attempting the same stunt over the next forty years, and the seizure of hundreds of tons of contraband military hardware. As time progressed, the need for sea-based power slowly decreased as orbit-capable aircraft became available, all but impervious to surface-to-air weapons, and capable of searching much of the planet’s surface and providing support to land-based units with “smart weapons” from half a continent away– all from the safety of orbit. However, the “wet” Navy transitioned from classic warships to sleek, high speed missile-armed cutters with a moderate compliment of aircraft aboard; suiting the needs of the military perfectly. As the Vulpine Civil War died down in 2548, thanks to overwhelming support against the Vulpine Nationalists, the military began to downsize and modernize its forces, automating many functions to save money in employing redundant personnel. The Navy was hit hard by the downsizing, its budget slashed and ranks utterly culled. The military defense industry was kept busy, though, by continuing to advance the Vulpine Naval Air Force, enhancing exoatmospheric strike aircraft, and upgrading weapon systems already in service. As a result of the extensive modernizing efforts, when on the 15th of June, 2600, when a UEG survey ship appeared in orbit, sleek orbit-capable interceptors were scrambled as part of first-encounter doctrine. The survey ship fled, in its haste failing to note the hails from the interceptors. The Vulpine military was placed in a high state of alert as a result, with the Navy deploying its forces to provide maximum strategic coverage with available units. Approximately six days later, on the 21st of June, a UNSC Battlegroup appeared in orbit, and responded to hails from intercepting aircraft. Following successful negotiations and verification that the UNSC Battlegroup really was from the one and the same Earth both groups of humans originated from, over the following months the New Blenheim military was reorganized into the New Blenheim Defense Force. The politics were thick, and resulted in New Blenheim retaining autonomy, and existing as a protectorate of the UEG. As such, the citizens of New Blenhiem were offered citizenship to the UEG in addition to their existing New Blenhiem citizenship; giving Vulpine the opportunity to serve abroad with the UNSC. Marine Corps Much like the Navy, there was initially plans to divide the Marine Corps into Vulpine and Human branches, but for the same political reasons, they were merged together with positive social effects. This lead to a more streamlined command structure. The New Blenheim Marine Corps extensively trained Vulpine conscripts to fulfill specialist roles, especially combat engineering, maintenance technicians and crew for armored vehicles and weaponry given their natural aptitude. However, a great many served as Infantry, and in positions of authority.Ljorn Renfer; Colonel, UNSC Marine Corps (Retired). A Soldier's Tail: Vulpine Military Leadership of the 25th Century. New Wolverhampton Bindings, pg. 3-4. "Military Leadership entering the 2400s was entirely composed of Humans. There were a number of Vulpine officers who had been ambitious enough to get through the established Naval Academy, but were largely in tactical commands of Vulpine troops. One such example was Baker Company of the 7th Marine Battalion, commanded by Marine Captain Yuhon Remac. However, as the Insurrection picked up and targeted Human leadership (most notably in the Green-On-Blue attack in Kutack in February 2403, killing 13 Senior staff and wounding further 9), Remac was among a small group of Vulpine who found their way into higher commands with more brass and sway. Indeed, Remac left the Marine Corps in 2443 as a Lieutenant General, commanding the Yugakhan Theater." The Marine Corps saw extensive action through the Vulpine Insurrection, with several high profile Green-on-Blue attacks committed by Vulpine troops on Human troops, fostering heightened tensions between the two species serving together.Ljorn Renfer; Colonel, UNSC Marine Corps (Retired). A Soldier's Tail: Vulpine Military Leadership of the 25th Century. New Wolverhampton Bindings, pg. 432. "The advent of Green on Blue attacks terrified the ranks of the military. The trust a human could put on a vulpine compatriot in the armed services was suddenly cast into doubt, after instances of Vulpine raising their arms on unarmed and unprepared humans - and in once instance, a squad of renegade Vulpine into a neighborhood of Military Housing prior to Military Police incapacitating the perpetrators. Inside attacks lead to a notable rift within the military on the short term, with humans staying well clear of Vulpine - with the exception of combat-worn units who had grown close enough to trust each other regardless. This remained in effect from several months, until the Office of Naval Intelligence's hastily implemented background investigations into all active duty personnel began to yield results. However, discipline and trust within squads and platoons lead to very few recorded retaliatory murders against innocent Vulpine Marines. The New Blenheim Marine Corps extensively utilized highly-trained Vulpine Commandos plucked from Combat Divisions to infiltrate insurgent camps during the Vulpine Insurrection in the 2400s, to great effect. They also used Air Calvary troops aboard armed V/STOL airframes to flush out hidden Vulpine militants in larger areas, sustaining considerable casualties over several decades of conflict, with eventual victory. Like the Navy, the New Blenheim Marine Corps was folded into the New Blenhiem Defense Force upon the reestablishment of communications with Earth - and dedicated to the protection of New Blenhiem. Many Vulpine troops however applied for a transfer to the UNSC Marine Corps to see the Galaxy. Notable Units Navy *'Naval Units''' **Naval Special Warfare Command (NAVSPECWARCOM) – Command unit for the Naval Special Operations units, with subordinate being the Naval Special Warfare Groups 1 through 7. **UNSC Newark (FF-019) – Navy vessel hijacked by insurgents in 2423. It remains the only Navy vessel to be boarded and hijacked. The vessel was eventually destroyed during a Special Operations raid to free the crew and liberate the ship, killing all aboard and the Marine Force Recon team. **Naval Air Station Kirklees – A river-side naval base, located just outside of the capital of New Wolverhampton. Notable for housing both NAVSPECWARCOM, and CMA High Command. *'Naval Aviation' **Fighter Attack Squadron 247 (VFA-247) “Flying Foxes” – First naval squadron to contain both Vulpine and Human personnel and prestigious naval fighter squadron. It was also the first operational squadron to receive F/A-424 “Firestreak” fighter-interceptors, capable of both sustained exoatmospheric and atmospheric flight. **Attack Medium Transport Squadron 253 (VAM-253) “Knight Hawks” - Premier and highly distinguished naval tiltrotor squadron, that operated largely with Special Operations units. Marine Corps *'Marine Units' **7th Vulpine Battalion, 1st New Blenheim Marine Division - Highly decorated unit, famous for holding NAS Kirklees against several thousand Vulpine rebels with significant losses; but turning the tide of conflict in favor of the counterinsurgency forces. **1st Company, Marine Force Reconnaissance - Premier Special Operations Group, cited as the harbingers of the end of the Vulpine Insurrection though elimination of key leadership, and ending coordinated efforts against Humanity on New Blenheim. *'Marine Aviation' **Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 512 (VMFA-512) “Madpies” - Notable Fighter Bomber squadron within the Marine Corps, notable for providing Close Air Support during the Battle of NAS Kirklees. The unit lost most of their aircraft and a number of their aircrew and support personnel through anti-air fire, potholed runways, or indirect/direct fire on the tarmac. Gender roles The Vulpine were unique in the regards to the role of gender in their society; from the dawn of recorded history, the Vulpine considered the genders to be roughly equal and capable of performing the same duties to the same standard, unlike that of Sangheili or Human cultures (though the latter made serious efforts to amend its gender roles though the late 20th century and finally sorting them midway through the 21st). Even as of today, the reason behind this is unclear – but the most prominent theory states that both sexes simply recognized the importance of each other at some point of prehistory, and correspondingly saw no reason to not treat the other sex as an equal. The validly of this theory, however, is hotly contested by the most prominent of figures in acadamia. Language Various languages were developed by differing early cultures of Vulpine to convey concepts and opinions; however, only a few major languages survived to the 400s CE; most of these the result of the merging of two or more lesser languages. Perhaps two spoken languages actually survived until Humanities intervention on the development of Vulpine civilization. The lessor language largely died out, leaving a single, very widespread spoken language to be dubbed, quite unoriginally by most humans who learnt the languages as “Vulpish” (although members of younger generations simply referred to it as “fox speak” or simply “fox”). It was unfortunate the language had to be referred to as such, but given the Vulpine people failed to name their language, the name stuck. There was initially difficulty between Humanity and the Vulpine attempting to understand each others' languages; the problem stemming from how radically different the two cultures were. Fortunately, the Cornwallis had several linguistic specialists aboard that had chosen to immigrate to a new colony. Through dedicated efforts, the pair managed to learn the language to a sufficient degree to communicate fluidly with the natives, and document their understanding to a degree that the Cornwallis’s AI was able to devise a translation suite, enabling easy understanding between humanity and the Vulpine; as well as teaching other humans who were interested in the language. At the same time, Vulpine interacting with Humans quickly picked up on English. As humanity’s influence on the Vulpine grew, almost all Vulpine learned English in addition to Vulpish – allowing for much more ease in conversing between species, and allowing the “jump-start” technological advancement of the Vulpine to occur. In modern times, roughly 40% of the Vulpine population know the Vulpish language, but the statistic is generationally decreasing; with an increasing number of Vulpine growing up knowing only the English language. Religion Prehistoric Vulpine came to develop the polytheistic belief that the Sun represented a warm, just and fair omnipotent and omniscient being during the day, and in direct contracts, the single moon of the planet was representative of a cool, somewhat more sinister omnipotent and omniscient being that viewed their dreams at night and calmed them. The two were said to be locked in eternal battle; explaining why the sun rose and set, and followed with the rise and fall of the moon. Each Vulpine family came to chose a side of the gods to support - that each Vulpine who passed on would have judgement passed upon them by their God, and reunited with their relatives within that faction as soldiers. This resulted in religion becoming a deeply personal matter, oft unspoken even among closest of friends given the state of war between the two Gods.Griffith, H. and Dreinx, R. (2589). Long Nights: The Ancestral Stories of the Vulpine. Potsdam Publishers, Inc. Pg. 374. "With the belief that the Gods were engaged in eternal war, and that individuals were eventually to become foot-soldiers to support one side or the other, there were the occasional murder over what side they supported. Which elevated into a bloody civil war with multiple retaliatory killings." This view stayed the same as Vulpine society began scientific and philosophic studies, where two additional strong beliefs came to the table. The first was the view that the polytheistic view in question is acceptable, but that the Vulpine did not have to take a side in a conflict between two infinitely powerful figures, and pass on to a place where they are free of the conflict. The second was atheism, with the prominent view being that this perceived conflict between two gods was imaginary and reading far too much into the simple cycle of the passage of time. These views remained prominent in their existence up until Humanities arrived on New Blenheim, and the complex philosophical and religious theories they bought with them began to wear away at their religion. A minority of Vulpine adopted a non-denominational form of Christianity, a roughly equal number retained their polytheistic faith; whereas the remainder adopted either atheistic, agnostic or the belief in Empiricism. Society, Government, and Politics Vulpine society progressed slowly from hunter-gatherer bands to tribal societies (in which there was some limited instances of social rank and prestige) to stratified social structures (thanks to the deft political maneuvering of a small cabal), which seventeen nation-states (each an individual civilization) rose around it. Each nation-state comprised of a ruler, who conferred and worked with chosen (in three nation-states, elected) cabinet (with considerable political influence), who represented the interests of their subjects. This oligarchy of sorts was required to come to a simple majority to make a decision, with key members among them given authority to make immediate decisions in the event of emergency. Rainez, Palve. (2591). Vulpine: A History. Theims Printing Co. Pg. 215 "...these "Emergency War Powers" were notably used to stage successful coups, citing "treason". It was no surprise that soon military commanders had standing orders that authorized them to only wage defensive actions until official decisions by those in Command were made." The development of priorly-fuedal Vulpine society was jump-started and accelerated exponentially upon exposure to the far more sophisticated neo-Western society that the thousands of Human settlers bought with them, the knowledge they bore quickly leading to massive industrialization of Vulpine civilization. This pushed Vulpine society from their position as a highly-developed Pre-Industrial Tier seven society to an atomic age-level tier five society in fifteen years with the aid of tier three Humanity. This lead to a much higher standard of living and a boom in Vulpine population. With humanities arrival on New Blenhiem and and efforts at modernizing the species that was now their closest ally, they were key in reforming politics; instituting levels of Governance. Nation-states were reformed into regions, with a government elected of the population to determine policies - which, at first, (given the lack of mingling of the two species) the governments were almost entirely comprised of all Human or all Vulpine representatives. This, however, changed as the population of the planet dispersed and and the representation of the species became more even. On an overarching level, there was the New Blenheim Colonial Government (with the Colonial Military Authority as its immediate subordinate) that governed the whole planet through a 200-seat Senate, with few and minor intrusion into the subordinate regional governments. Both species had multiple political parties, with varying opinions regarding economic, social, and environmental issues. Both sides also had extremists, most notably the racist (and unoriginal-named) Vulpine Liberation Front - which started as a controversial anti-Human political body that advanced into an militant revolutionary organization that began to attack Government establishments circa early 2392, and sparked an all-out governmental anti-insurgency effort that lasted a large chunk of the 25th century. This ushered out the era of leftist thinking that Humanity bought with them from Earth, and replaced it with a far more conservative outlook in terms of Governmental policy that never truly wore off. Trade and Economics The Vulpine had a barter system of trade from long before recorded history, exchanging goods or services for other goods and services. This system lingered well into the early 1200CEs, when early philosophersAssumed in the state of Hegyah proposed the concept of exchanging small objects that held a fixed value, that could be exchanged instead of goods - as well as increase the ease of taxation for Government. This was achieved through minted gold coins, stamped crudely with the Hegyah leader of the period and words proclaiming the value. This was emulated by other states of the time, and worked very well; trade occurring between nationstates much easier - the embodiment of a proto-capitalistic system. However, this led to the issues of fraudulent currency cropping up, and economic means becoming a cause for bloody, lengthy wars. Wars lead to economic booms, and gradual advances being made. Political corruption became a very real issue. Society was in an economic boom, when humanity made their sudden appearance on New Blenhiem, and began trading with the Vulpine. Vulpine came to barter at first with humanity for human wares, goods and services; before adopting a coinage and paper currency system. This was eventually adopted by the entirety of New Blenhiem, as massive economic growth occurred with Human-prompted construction of infrastructure. The New Blenhiem Stock Market opened in 2395, firmly establishing human concepts of Capitalism to the Vulpine. Government-funded industry grew rapidly "...thanks to the buildup of arms and military vehicles, as well training up labor, and circulating money throughout the economy."Murlay, B., Renno, E., and Zhukov, V. New Blenhiem Teaching Resources (2572).Accounting: an Introduction References